Farmer who encouraged his dogs to attack boars sentenced

A farmer who encouraged his dogs to attack boars at his property and then filmed the attack has walked free from court.

Logan Dawson pleaded guilty to two charges of ill-treating a boar, and two charges of baiting a boar - charges which have never before been laid in New Zealand, the RSPCA said.

The 24-year-old was discharged without conviction, but ordered to pay almost $8400 in reparation and a $500 donation to the RSPCA when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court today.

Dawson admitted encouraging his dogs to attack a number of boars at his Waikato property to train them for pig hunting.

SPCA were alerted to YouTube footage in May last year, and executed a search warrant which resulted in the four charges being laid.

"The videos showed Dawson encouraging his dogs to attack a boar, then standing by and filming the attacks, intervening to stab the boars but not causing their deaths, thus prolonging their pain and suffering as the dogs continued to attack,'' RSPCA regional manager Sue Baudet said.

Dawson's failure to quickly and humanely kill the boars once they were attacked by the dogs caused them unnecessary suffering, she said.

The hunting and killing of wild animals was lawful, but there was an obligation on a person who captured the animal to kill it in a manner which did not cause unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress, she said.